Regular Tunnelling Sequences in Mixed Systems

We show that the pattern of tunnelling rates can display a vivid and regular pattern when the classical dynamics is of mixed chaotic/regular type. We consider the situation in which the dominant tunnelling route connects to a stable periodic orbit and this orbit is surrounded by a regular island which supports a number of quantum states. We derive an explicit semiclassical expression for the positions and tunnelling rates of these states by use of a complexified trace formula.Comment: submitted to Physica E as a contribution to the workshop proceedings of "Dynamics of Complex Systems" held at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden from March 30 to June 15, 199

Calculation of the Characteristic Functions of Anharmonic Oscillators

The energy levels of quantum systems are determined by quantization conditions. For one-dimensional anharmonic oscillators, one can transform the Schrodinger equation into a Riccati form, i.e., in terms of the logarithmic derivative of the wave function. A perturbative expansion of the logarithmic derivative of the wave function can easily be obtained. The Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization condition can be expressed in terms of a contour integral around the poles of the logarithmic derivative. Its functional form is B_m(E,g) = n + 1/2, where B is a characteristic function of the anharmonic oscillator of degree m, E is the resonance energy, and g is the coupling constant. A recursive scheme can be devised which facilitates the evaluation of higher-order Wentzel-Kramers-Brioullin (WKB) approximants. The WKB expansion of the logarithmic derivative of the wave function has a cut in the tunneling region. The contour integral about the tunneling region yields the instanton action plus corrections, summarized in a second characteristic function A_m(E,g). The evaluation of A_m(E,g) by the method of asymptotic matching is discussed for the case of the cubic oscillator of degree m=3.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX; three further typographical errors correcte

Fermi Edge Singularities in the Mesoscopic Regime: II. Photo-absorption Spectra

We study Fermi edge singularities in photo-absorption spectra of generic mesoscopic systems such as quantum dots or nanoparticles. We predict deviations from macroscopic-metallic behavior and propose experimental setups for the observation of these effects. The theory is based on the model of a localized, or rank one, perturbation caused by the (core) hole left behind after the photo-excitation of an electron into the conduction band. The photo-absorption spectra result from the competition between two many-body responses, Anderson's orthogonality catastrophe and the Mahan-Nozieres-DeDominicis contribution. Both mechanisms depend on the system size through the number of particles and, more importantly, fluctuations produced by the coherence characteristic of mesoscopic samples. The latter lead to a modification of the dipole matrix element and trigger one of our key results: a rounded K-edge typically found in metals will turn into a (slightly) peaked edge on average in the mesoscopic regime. We consider in detail the effect of the "bound state" produced by the core hole.Comment: 16 page

Artificial trapping of a stable high-density dipolar exciton fluid

We present compelling experimental evidence for a successful electrostatic trapping of two-dimensional dipolar excitons that results in stable formation of a well confined, high-density and spatially uniform dipolar exciton fluid. We show that, for at least half a microsecond, the exciton fluid sustains a density higher than the critical density for degeneracy if the exciton fluid temperature reaches the lattice temperature within that time. This method should allow for the study of strongly interacting bosons in two dimensions at low temperatures, and possibly lead towards the observation of quantum phase transitions of 2D interacting excitons, such as superfluidity and crystallization.Comment: 11 pages 4 figure

Robustness of adiabatic passage trough a quantum phase transition

We analyze the crossing of a quantum critical point based on exact results for the transverse XY model. In dependence of the change rate of the driving field, the evolution of the ground state is studied while the transverse magnetic field is tuned through the critical point with a linear ramping. The excitation probability is obtained exactly and is compared to previous studies and to the Landau-Zener formula, a long time solution for non-adiabatic transitions in two-level systems. The exact time dependence of the excitations density in the system allows to identify the adiabatic and diabatic regions during the sweep and to study the mesoscopic fluctuations of the excitations. The effect of white noise is investigated, where the critical point transmutes into a non-hermitian ``degenerate region''. Besides an overall increase of the excitations during and at the end of the sweep, the most destructive effect of the noise is the decay of the state purity that is enhanced by the passage through the degenerate region.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure

Solitary Adrenal Metastasis from Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction. In patients with extra-adrenal malignancy, an adrenal mass necessitates investigating the possibility of metastatic tumor. Curable adrenal metastasis are considered as a rare event. Case report. A 52-year-old male suffering from lower esophageal adenocarcinoma with a solitary left adrenal metastasis is presented herein, who underwent concomitant transhiatal esophagectomy and left adrenalectomy. The patient remains disease-free 18 months later. Discussion. Adrenal metastases mostly occur in patients with lung, kidney, breast, and gastrointestinal carcinomas. Primary esophageal adenocarcinoma gives adrenal metastatic deposits according to autopsy series with an incidence of about 3%–12%. When no other evidence of metastatic disease in cancer patients exists, several authors advocate adrenalectomy with curative intent. Isolated cases of long-term survival after resection of solitary adrenal metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma, like in our case, have been reported only as case reports. Conclusion. This study concludes that surgical resection may result in survival benefit in selected patients with solitary adrenal metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma

Sharpenings of Li's criterion for the Riemann Hypothesis

Exact and asymptotic formulae are displayed for the coefficients $\lambda_n$ used in Li's criterion for the Riemann Hypothesis. For $n \to \infty$ we obtain that if (and only if) the Hypothesis is true, $\lambda_n \sim n(A \log n +B)$ (with $A>0$ and $B$ explicitly given, also for the case of more general zeta or $L$-functions); whereas in the opposite case, $\lambda_n$ has a non-tempered oscillatory form.Comment: 10 pages, Math. Phys. Anal. Geom (2006, at press). V2: minor text corrections and updated reference

The WKB Approximation without Divergences

In this paper, the WKB approximation to the scattering problem is developed without the divergences which usually appear at the classical turning points. A detailed procedure of complexification is shown to generate results identical to the usual WKB prescription but without the cumbersome connection formulas.Comment: 13 pages, TeX file, to appear in Int. J. Theor. Phy

Fractional Hamiltonian Monodromy from a Gauss-Manin Monodromy

Fractional Hamiltonian Monodromy is a generalization of the notion of Hamiltonian Monodromy, recently introduced by N. N. Nekhoroshev, D. A. Sadovskii and B. I. Zhilinskii for energy-momentum maps whose image has a particular type of non-isolated singularities. In this paper, we analyze the notion of Fractional Hamiltonian Monodromy in terms of the Gauss-Manin Monodromy of a Riemann surface constructed from the energy-momentum map and associated to a loop in complex space which bypasses the line of singularities. We also prove some propositions on Fractional Hamiltonian Monodromy for 1:-n and m:-n resonant systems.Comment: 39 pages, 24 figures. submitted to J. Math. Phy